THE tussle between hospital cleaners and their employers is an internal matter between the two parties, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.

Adding that picketing during the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) is not allowed, Noor Hisham said the matter involves a company contracted by the Health Ministry and not the ministry itself.

“It does not involve the ministry but our concessionaire. So they should be engaging with their company rather than the ministry because the services are from the concessionaire,” he said during his daily media briefing in Putrajaya.

However, the ministry is monitoring the situation and advised the company to take “drastic action” to resolve the matter to avoid any disruption to services.

He added as the company is bound to the ministry through contractual agreement, any disruption to the services provided by the concessionaire will be dealt with in accordance to the terms of the deal.

“Now the issue is between the company and their workers. This is their internal issue and not (involving) the Health Ministry.

“But at the end of the day, the ministry is looking at services of the company. If there is a disruption, then action will be taken in terms of the contractual agreement between the ministry and the concessionaire,” he added.

He was referring to a protest by members of the National Union of Workers in Hospital Support and Allied Services (NUWHSAS), who are mostly hospital cleaners, in front of Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh on Tuesday.

This resulted in the arrest of five individuals.

The protesters were employees of UEM Edgenta Bhd’s subsidiary, Edgenta UEMS, which provides maintenance services to government hospitals, among others.

They wanted to call attention to the grouses of hospital cleaners, which includes the lack of protective gear. – June 4, 2020.